Using a Distributed Ledger for the Auto Claims Process

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods track a vehicle identifier or VIN on a blockchain maintained by a plurality of participants. One method may include (1) receiving, at a processor, a notification of a vehicle loss report from a first participant; (2) storing, at a memory coupled with the processor, the vehicle loss report on the blockchain; (3) generating, at the processor, a coverage amount based upon the vehicle loss report; (4) generating, at the processor, an order based upon the notification, wherein the order includes a repair assignment and a replacement vehicle request; (5) storing, at the memory, the repair assignment on the blockchain; (6) transmitting, at the processor, the order to at least a second participant; (7) receiving, at the processor, a repair estimate from the second participant; and/or (8) transmitting, at the processor, the repair estimate and the coverage amount to the first participant to facilitate maintaining a blockchain up-to-date.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to (1) U.S. Provisional Application No.62/466,917, entitled “Blockchain Vin Registry,” filed Mar. 3, 2017; (2)U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/468,092, entitled “Blockchain VinRegistry,” filed Mar. 7, 2017; (3) U.S. Provisional Application No.62/469,070, entitled “Using a Blockchain for Vehicle LifecycleProcesses,” filed Mar. 9, 2017; (4) U.S. Provisional Application No.62/500,977, entitled “Using a Blockchain for Vehicle LifecycleProcesses,” filed May 3, 2017; and (5) U.S. Provisional Application No.62/501,621, entitled “Using a Blockchain for Vehicle LifecycleProcesses,” filed May 4, 2017, each of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Systems and methods are disclosed with respect to using a blockchain forvehicle lifecycle processes, specifically, an automotive claims process,vehicle loss history, and the lifecycle of a Vehicle IdentificationNumber (VIN), or other identifier.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles undergo a variety of information exchange periods during theirlifecycle. Some of these information exchange periods are brought on byaccidents, sales, or the eventual destruction of the vehicle. Managingthe vehicle life cycle process may involve multiple participantsexchanging a variety of information. The number of interactions betweenthese parties may mean the parties have to provide and validateinformation. Theses interactions may often occur between businesses andconsumers, or businesses and other businesses. However, usingconventional techniques, managing the vehicle life cycle may includeseveral drawbacks.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for tracking a vehicleidentifier or VIN on a blockchain maintained by a plurality ofparticipants may be provided. The method may include (1) receiving, at aprocessor, a notification of a vehicle loss report (or othernotification of a vehicle loss, such as a notification that an insuredvehicle has been damaged or involved in a vehicle collision) from afirst participant; (2) storing, at a memory coupled with the processor,the vehicle loss report (or other notification) on the blockchain; (3)generating, at the processor, a coverage amount based upon the vehicleloss report (or other notification); (4) generating, at the processor,an order based upon the vehicle loss report or other notification,wherein the order includes a repair assignment and a replacement vehiclerequest; (5) storing, at the memory, the repair assignment on theblockchain; (6) transmitting, at the processor, the order to at least asecond participant; (7) receiving, at the processor, a repair estimatefrom the second participant; and/or (8) transmitting, at the processor,the repair estimate and the coverage amount to the first participant.The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, includingthose discussed elsewhere herein.

In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for reporting andtracking events related to an automotive claims process on a blockchainreported and tracked by a plurality of participants in the blockchainnetwork may be provided. The method may include (1) receiving, at aprocessor, a notification of a vehicle loss report (or othernotification of a vehicle loss, such as a notification that an insuredvehicle has been damaged or involved in a vehicle collision) for avehicle from a first participant; (2) adding, at a memory coupled withthe processor, the vehicle loss report (or other notification) to atransaction; (3) generating, at the processor, a coverage amount and anorder based upon the vehicle loss report (or other notification); (4)adding, at the processor, the coverage amount and the order to thetransaction; (5) adding, at the processor, the transaction to a block oftransactions; (6) generating, at the processor, a cryptographic hashbased upon the block of transactions; (7) adding, at the processor, thecryptographic hash in the block of transactions; and/or (8)transmitting, at the processor, the block of transactions to a secondparticipant. The method may include additional, less, or alternateactions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

In yet another aspect, a computer system for reporting and trackingevents related to an automotive claims process on a blockchain reportedand tracked by a plurality of participants in the blockchain network maybe provided. The system may include a network interface configured tointerface with a processor; a memory configured to store non-transitorycomputer executable instructions and configured to interface with theprocessor; and the processor configured to interface with the memory.The processor may be configured to execute the non-transitory computerexecutable instructions to cause the processor to: (1) receive anotification of a vehicle loss report (or other notification of avehicle loss, such as a notification that an insured vehicle has beendamaged or involved in a vehicle collision) from a first participant;(2) store the vehicle loss report (or other notification) on theblockchain; (3) generate a coverage amount based upon the vehicle lossreport (or other notification); (4) generate an order based upon thevehicle loss report (or other notification), wherein the order includesa repair assignment and a replacement vehicle request; (5) store therepair assignment and the replacement vehicle request on the blockchain;(6) transmit the order to a second participant; (7) receive a repairestimate from the second participant; and/or (8) transmit the repairestimate and the coverage amount to the first participant. The methodmay include additional, less, or alternate functionality, includingthose discussed elsewhere herein.

The methods may be implemented via computer systems, and may includeadditional, less, or alternate actions or functionality. Systems orcomputer-readable media storing instructions for implementing all orpart of the method described above may also be provided in some aspects.Systems for implementing such methods may include one or more of thefollowing: a special-purpose computing device, a personal electronicdevice, a processing unit of a vehicle, a remote server, one or moresensors, one or more communication modules configured to communicatewirelessly via radio links, radio frequency links, and/or wirelesscommunication channels, and/or one or more program memories coupled toone or more processors of the personal electronic device, processingunit of the vehicle, or remote server. Such program memories may storeinstructions to cause the one or more processors to implement part orall of the method described above. Additional or alternative featuresdescribed herein below may be included in some aspects.

Advantages will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart from the following description of the preferred aspects, which havebeen shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized,the present aspects may be capable of other and different aspects, andtheir details are capable of modification in various respects.Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures described below depict various aspects of the system andmethods disclosed herein. It should be understood that each figuredepicts an embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosed system andmethods, and that each of the figures is intended to accord with apossible embodiment thereof. Further, wherever possible, the followingdescription refers to the reference numerals included in the followingfigures, in which features depicted in multiple figures are designatedwith consistent reference numerals.

There are shown in the drawings arrangements which are presentlydiscussed, it being understood, however, that the present embodimentsare not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown,wherein:

FIG. 1A depicts an exemplary database system 100 in accordance with oneaspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B depicts an exemplary distributed ledger system 112 in accordancewith one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A depicts an exemplary transaction flow 200 in accordance with oneaspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B depicts an exemplary block propagation flow 210 in accordancewith one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary sequence diagram 300 in accordance with oneaspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary node 400 in accordance with one aspect ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary blockchain 500 in accordance with one aspectof the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 600 associated with one aspectof the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 700 associated with one aspectof the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 800 associated with one aspectof the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 800 associated with one aspectof the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 depicts exemplary VIN based vehicle services that may befacilitated via the Blockchain VIN Registry.

FIG. 11 depicts exemplary transactions that may be recorded, logged, orupdated in each block of a distributed ledger or Blockchain VIN Registry1100; and

FIG. 12 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 1200 associated with oneaspect of the present disclosure.

The figures depict aspects of the present embodiments for purposes ofillustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize fromthe following discussion that alternate aspects of the structures andmethods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from theprinciples of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present embodiments relate to, inter alia, systems and methods forusing a blockchain to record information related to processes andservices in the automotive industry. For example, a blockchain may beused to manage the automotive claims process, a vehicle's loss history,and the lifecycle of a Vehicle Identification Number. The systems andmethods described herein allow for using a blockchain which gives theoption for private information, and permissioned participants in theblockchain. In particular, the systems and methods allow for adistributed consensus amongst businesses, consumers, and authorities, asto the validity of information and transactions stored on theblockchain.

Some exemplary, but not limiting, applications that may take advantageof the disclosed systems and methods relate to problems surrounding theautomotive claims process, vehicle loss history, and the lifecycle of aVehicle Identification Number. Specifically, such applications may be:processing automotive insurance claims, tracking a vehicle's losshistory, tracking a Vehicle Identification Number over the course of thevehicle's life, transferring a vehicle title in a total loss scenario,subrogation transactions related to a vehicle accident, transferring avehicle title, executing and processing travel insurance, interactingwith original equipment manufacturers for a vehicle, and trackinginformation from the national insurance crime bureau.

The present embodiments may be related to a Blockchain VIN Registry. Anational or other registry of automobile VIN numbers may be commonlyaccessed and/or updated by organizations, such as auto manufacturers,insurance carriers, financial institutions, fleet owners, banks, bodyshops, part suppliers, State Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs),and/or salvage vendors. The VIN Registry, utilizing blockchaintechnology, may be a single, historical, authoritative source formultiple pieces of information about each vehicle that is accessed,tracked, and updated using Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs).

The Blockchain VIN Registry may have various usages, and may allow forthe introduction of new capabilities into current processes. Examples ofsuch usage include: (1) validating proof of insurance on a vehicle(available to law enforcement, lienholders, vehicle owners, etc.); (2)tracking vehicle ownership from “cradle to grave,” via seamless titletransfers between manufacturers, dealers, consumers, salvage yard, etc.;(3) identifying the current lienholder of a vehicle, and the currentlien payoff amount (e.g., for more frictionless processing of paymentsuch as in a total loss situation, or for loan refinancing situations);(4) ensuring lien perfection (e.g., title reflects joint ownership byperson and lienholder); (5) reducing fraud by detecting duplicatecoverage or duplicate claims for a single vehicle, or detecting buildupor questionable claims; (6) tracking maintenance or repair work that hasbeen, or is to be, performed on a vehicle; (7) when coupled with crashdetection, performing first notification of loss to the appropriateinsurer; (8) in conjunction with connected car capabilities, limitingthe vehicle's capabilities if the vehicle isn't registered properly,lacks insurance coverage, or the owner is behind on loan payments; (9)connected license plates, reflecting the current registration status;(10) facilitating Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) or trip-based insurance;(11) recording all OEM features, part numbers, (autonomous or othervehicle) system or software of versions of the vehicle (beyond what canbe derived from the VIN, make, and model information), i.e., the vehiclebuild; (12) more accurate insurance rating based upon known security orsafety features of a vehicle (which may impact either a human drivenvehicle, or a semi-autonomous or autonomous vehicle or technology, orboth); (13) more accurate repair cost estimations based upon knownvehicle features (which may impact human driving, or vehicleself-driving); and/or (14) facilitating recall notifications in a promptand reliable manner.

Potential blockchain participants may include auto manufacturers,insurance carriers, consumers, individual vehicle owners, fleet owners,salvage vendors, auditors, State DMVs, auto dealerships, banks or creditunions, lienholders, body shops, repair facilities, tow truckoperations, part supplies, rental companies, and/or law enforcement.

Potential data elements included in the blockchain and/or eachblockchain transaction, block, or update may include vehicle VIN number,and one or more additional data elements associated with that particularvehicle. The additional data elements may include owner information,such as owner type (manufacturer, dealer, consumer, lienholder, etc.);owner ID (EIN, SSN, etc.); owner name; and/or owner contact information(address, phone, email address, etc.). The additional data elements mayinclude insurance carrier information, such as insurer name; insurancepolicy ID or number; an indication of whether the policy remains inforce (Y/N?); effective dates of the policy; expiration date of theinsurance coverage; and/or insurance policy coverages, terms, limits,deductibles, conditions, etc.

The additional data elements may include lienholder information, such aslienholder name; lienholder contact information; whether the loan is ingood standing (Y/N?); and/or current payoff amount. The additional dataelements may include a license plate number; state of issuance; andwhether the vehicle registration with the state DMV is up-to-date. Theadditional data elements may include an indication of any claims made;including date of first notice of loss; insurance carrier that the claimwas filed with; claim open date; claim close date; an amount of theclaim; and whether or not the claim was resolved. The additional dataelements may include information on maintenance or repair events,including event type; event date; event cost; and/or one or morelocations associated with the event (e.g., city and state of eventlocation).

The Blockchain VIN Registry may be used in conjunction with smartcontracts that govern the vehicles, including autonomous orsemi-autonomous vehicles. For instance, the smart contracts may relatedto maintenance, warranties, vehicle loans, service contracts, UBI,trip-insurance, auto insurance policies, vehicle titles, vehiclesalvage, total loss vehicles, etc. When an event or data relevant to avehicle or a smart contract is generated, a transaction associated withthe vehicle's VIN may be generated and compiled into a block of adistributed ledger (or Blockchain VIN Registry). The transaction orupdate to the distributed ledger or Blockchain VIN Registry may include(i) the vehicle's VIN, and (ii) one or more additional data elementsassociated with the vehicle, including the additional data elementsmentioned elsewhere herein.

The above listed examples, and disclosed systems and methods, may use anapplication of distributed ledgers, where each new block may becryptographically linked to the previous block in order to form a“blockchain.”

A blockchain is a way of achieving a distributed consensus on thevalidity or invalidity of information. As opposed to using a centralauthority, a blockchain is a distributed database, or ledger, in which atransactional record is maintained at each node of a peer to peernetwork. Commonly, the distributed ledger is comprised of groupings oftransactions bundled together into a “block.” When a change to thedistributed ledger is made (e.g., when a new transaction and/or block iscreated), each node must form a consensus as to how the change isintegrated into the distributed ledger. Upon consensus, the agreed uponchange is pushed out to each node so that each node maintains anidentical copy of the updated distributed ledger. Any change that doesnot achieve a consensus is ignored. Accordingly, unlike a traditionalsystem which may use a central authority, a single party cannotunilaterally alter the distributed ledger. This inability to modify pasttransactions lead to blockchains being generally described as trusted,secure, and immutable.

Some blockchains may be deployed in an open, decentralized, andpermissionless manner meaning that any party may view information,submit new information, or join the blockchain as a node responsible forconfirming information. This open, decentralized, and permissionlessapproach to a blockchain has limitations. As an example, theseblockchains may not be good candidates for interactions that requireinformation to be kept private, such as information related to a vehiclelifecycle process, or for interactions that require all participants tobe vetted prior to their participation.

In any event, to create a new block, each transaction within a block maybe assigned a hash value (i.e., an output of a cryptographic hashfunction, such as SHA-256 or MD5). These hash values may then becombined together utilizing data storage and cryptographic techniques(e.g., a Merkle Tree) to generate a hash value representative of theentire new block, and consequently the transactions stored in the block.This hash value may then be combined with the hash value of the previousblock to form a hash value included in the header of the new block,thereby cryptographically linking the new block to the blockchain. Tothis end, the precise value utilized in the header of the new block maybe dependent on the hash value for each transaction in the new block, aswell as the hash value for each transaction in every prior block.

According to certain aspects disclosed herein, information stored inblockchains can be trusted, because the hash value generated for the newblock and a nonce value (an arbitrary number used once) are used asinputs into a cryptographic puzzle. The cryptographic puzzle may have adifficulty set by the nodes connected to the blockchain network, or thedifficulty may be set by administrators of the blockchain network. Inone example of the cryptographic puzzle, a solving node uses the hashvalue generated for the new block and repeatedly changes the value ofthe nonce until a solution for the puzzle is found. For example, findingthe solution to the cryptographic puzzle may involve finding the noncevalue that meets certain criteria (e.g., the nonce value begins withfive zeros).

When a solution to the cryptographic puzzle is found, the solving nodepublishes the solution and the other nodes then verify that the solutionis valid. Since the solution depends on the particular hash values foreach transaction within the blockchain, if the solving node attempted tomodify any transaction stored in the blockchain, the solution would notbe verified by the other nodes. More specifically, if a single nodeattempts to modify a prior transaction within the blockchain, a cascadeof different hash values may be generated for each tier of thecryptographic combination technique. This results in the header for oneor more blocks being different than the corresponding header(s) in everyother node that did not make the exact same modification.

Blockchains may store smart contracts. A smart contract is a computerprotocol that enables the automatic execution and/or enforcement of anagreement between different parties. In particular, the smart contractmay be computer code that is located at a particular address on theblockchain. In some cases the smart contract may run automatically inresponse to a participant in the blockchain sending funds (e.g., acryptocurrency such as bitcoin or ether) to the address where the smartcontract is stored. Additionally, smart contracts may maintain a balanceof the amount of funds that are stored at their address. In somescenarios, when this balance reaches zero, the smart contract may nolonger be operational.

The smart contract may include one or more trigger conditions, that,when satisfied, correspond to one or more actions. For some smartcontracts, which action(s) from the one or more actions are performed isdetermined based upon one or more decision conditions. An enforcemententity corresponding to the smart contract may subscribe to one or moredata streams including data related to a trigger condition and/or adecision condition. Accordingly, the enforcement entity may route thedata streams to the smart contract (such as by using the vehicle's VIN)so that the smart contract may detect that a trigger condition hasoccurred and/or analyze a decision condition to direct the enforcemententity to perform one or more actions.

As noted herein, after collection of the information regarding thevehicle by one or more nodes within a communication network, atransaction (and/or new block) including the vehicle informationcollected may be broadcast to the blockchain, and/or a new blockverified and then added to the blockchain to reflect an updated state ofthe vehicle. For each of the computer-implemented methods discussedherein, in one embodiment, a transaction and/or new block may begenerated and then broadcast to the blockchain network for verificationonce vehicle data, and/or new sensor or other data, have been generatedand/or collected by one or more nodes within the communication network.As such, tracking the status of a vehicle may be more reliable and/orfraud-resistant as each node may include a proof-of-identity in itstransaction modifying the state of the vehicle and/or vehicle-relatedblocks or blockchain.

Further, with the computer-implemented methods discussed herein, networkparticipants may function as full nodes that validate and/or generatenew blocks and transactions, and/or compile transactions into blocksthat are then added to the network. However, not all participants needbe nodes that compile transactions into blocks, and/or validatetransactions and blocks received from other network participants—as somenetwork participants may wish to rely on other network nodes to providecomputer processing and/or storage services that enable usage of thesystem or blockchain.

Exemplary Database & Distributed Ledger

FIG. 1A depicts an exemplary database system 100 in accordance with oneaspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 1A includes a central authority102, a plurality of nodes 104A, 104B, and 106, a central ledger 108, anda plurality of network connections 110. In one exemplary operation ofthe database system 100, one of the nodes, for example Node A 104A,would issue a request to the central authority 102 to perform an actionon data stored in the central ledger 108. This request may be a requestto create, read, update, or delete data that is stored in the centralledger 108.

The central authority 102 would receive the request, processes therequest, make any necessary changes to the data stored in the centralledger 108, and inform the requesting node, Node A 104A, of the statusof the request. The central authority 102 may also send out statusupdates to the other nodes on the network about the change made, if any,to the data by Node A 104A. In the database system 100, all interactionwith the data stored in the central ledger 108 occurs through thecentral authority 102. In this way, the central authority functions as agatekeeper of the data.

Accordingly, the central authority 102 may operate as a single point ofentry for interacting with the data, and consequently the centralauthority 102 is a single point of failure for the entire databasesystem 100. As such, if the central authority 102 is not accessible tothe nodes in the database system 100, then the data stored in thecentral ledger 108 is not accessible. In another example, eachindividual node may keep their own databases and then at the end of theday each node sends a copy of their database to the central authority102 where the received databases are reconciled to form a singlecohesive record of the data stored in the central ledger 108.

Conversely, FIG. 1B depicts an exemplary distributed ledger system 112in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. An example of adistributed ledger system 112 is the blockchain system described above.FIG. 1B includes a plurality of nodes 104A, 104B, and 106, a distributedledger 114, and network connections 110. In a distributed ledger system112, each node keeps a copy of the distributed ledger 114. As changesare made to the distributed ledger 114 each node updates their copy ofthe distributed ledger 114. A consensus mechanism may be used by thenodes in the distributed ledger system 112 to decide when it isappropriate to make changes to the distributed ledger 114.

Therefore, each node has their own copy of the distributed ledger 114,which is identical to every other copy of the distributed ledger 114stored by each other node. The distributed ledger system 112 is morerobust than a central authority database system, because the distributedledger system 112 is decentralized and there is no single point offailure.

Exemplary Transaction Flow & Block Propagation Flow

FIG. 2A depicts an exemplary transaction flow 200 in accordance with oneaspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 2A includes a transaction 202,three different time frames 204, 206, and 208, a set of nodes, networkconnections 110, and a distributed ledger 114. The transaction flow 200may represent a sequential flow of a transaction through a network, suchas the network depicted in FIG. 1B. For example, at time 204 Node A 104Agenerates a transaction 202 or event.

The transaction 202 may use data that is stored in the distributedledger 114, or the transaction 202 may use data received by the nodefrom outside the distributed ledger 114. Node A 104A may transmit thenewly generated transaction to Node C 106 via the network connection110. At time 206, Node C 106 receives the transaction 202, and confirmsthat the information contained therein is correct. If the informationcontained in the transaction 202 is not correct Node C 106 may rejectthe transaction, and not propagate the transaction 202 through thesystem. If the information contained in the transaction 202 is correctNode C 106 may transmit the transaction 202 to its neighbor Node B 104B.

Similarly, at time 208 Node B 104B may receive the transaction 202 andeither confirm or reject the transaction 202. In some embodiments, theNode B 104B may not transmit the confirmed transaction 202, becausethere are no further nodes to transmit to, or all the nodes in thenetwork have already received transaction 202.

In some embodiments, at any of time frames 204, 206, or 208, any of thenodes may add the confirmed transaction 202 to their copy of thedistributed ledger 114, or to a block of transactions stored in thedistributed ledger. In some embodiments, confirming the transaction 202includes checking cryptographic key-pairs for participants involved inthe transaction 202. Checking the cryptographic key-pairs may follow amethod laid out by a consensus protocol, such as the consensus protocoldiscussed in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 2B depicts an exemplary block propagation flow 210 in accordancewith one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 2B includes two timeframes 212 and 214, Node C 106 and Node B 104B, a set of transactions202A-202D, a set of blocks of transactions 216A-216D, a distributedledger 114, and a blockchain 218. The block propagation flow 210 mayfollow the blockchain system described above, or may follow anotherblockchain propagation algorithm.

The block propagation flow 210 may begin with Node C 106 receivingtransaction 202A at time 212. When Node C 106C confirms that transaction202A is valid, the node may add the transaction to a newly generatedblock 216. As part of adding the transaction 202A to block 216, Node C106 may solve a cryptographic puzzle and include the solution in thenewly generated block 216 as proof of the work done to generate theblock 216. This proof of work may be similar to the proof of workdescribed above which utilizes guessing a nonce value. In otherembodiments, the transaction 202A may be added to a pool of transactionsuntil enough transactions exist to form a block. Node C 106 may transmitthe newly created block 216 to the network at 220. Before or afterpropagating the block 216, Node C 106 may add the block 216 to its copyof the blockchain 218.

At time 214 Node B 104B may receive the newly created block 216. Node B104B may verify that the block of transactions 216 is valid by checkingthe solution to the cryptographic puzzle provided in the block 216. Ifthe solution is accurate then Node B 104B may add the block 216 to itsblockchain 218 and transmit the block 216 to the rest of the network at222.

In one embodiment, one or more transactions 202 or events may relate tosmart contracts associated with the vehicle or a VIN (VehicleIdentification Number), or vehicle owner or driver. The smart contractsmay relate to vehicle financing, vehicle ownership, vehicle title andregistration, vehicle maintenance or repair, and other vehicle-relatedevents or transactions.

For example, a smart contract may be stored on the blockchain 218. Thesmart contract may include terms of a contract for vehicle financing,the payor and payee of the contract, actions to be performed related tothe contract, and any other related items to the contract. The smartcontract may be found on the blockchain 218 via the vehicle identifier.As transactions 202 are received information contained in thetransaction may indicate that a payment for the vehicle financing hasbeen made, and accordingly the smart contract may be updated to reflectthis payment, and potentially trigger other actions to occur, such asnotifying the lender. These actions, and terms, are stored in the smartcontract on the blockchain 218, and may be visible to the parties to thevehicle financing, to all the participants in the blockchain 218, or toonly some participants in the blockchain 218.

Exemplary Sequence Diagram

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary sequence diagram 300 in accordance with oneaspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 includes a set of nodes 104A,104B, and 106. At 302, Node A 104A may generate a transaction. Thetransaction may be transmitted from Node A 104A to Node C 106 at 304.Node C 106 may validate the transaction at 306, and if the transactionis valid, transmit the transaction at 308 to Node B 104B. Node B 104Bmay validate the transaction at 310. At 312, Node C 106 may compile ablock including the validated transaction. Compiling a block may includegenerating a solution to a cryptographic puzzle, and linking the blockto other blocks, as described in the embodiments above. Once the blockis compiled, Node C 106 may transmit the block with the solution at 314to both Node A 104A and Node B 104B.

Both nodes may then validate the solution to the block at 316. Verifyingmay include checking a cryptographic key-pair as described above. At 318the three nodes form a consensus that the solution is valid, andaccordingly all the nodes have formed a consensus on the blocks oftransactions stored by all the nodes.

Exemplary Node

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary node 400 in accordance with one aspect ofthe present disclosure. In some embodiments, node 400 may be the sametype of node as Node C 106 in FIGS. 1A-3. In other embodiments, node 400may be the same type of node as Node A 104A and Node B 104B in FIGS.1A-3. Node 400 may be capable of performing all the embodimentsdisclosed herein. In particular, node 400 may utilize the decentralizedsystem described in FIG. 1B, the flows of transactions and blocksdescribed in FIGS. 2A and 2B, and the blockchain system 500 describedbelow in FIG. 5.

FIG. 4 may include at least one processor 402, memory 404, acommunication module 406, a set of applications 408, external ports 410,user interface 412, a blockchain manager 414, smart contracts 416,operating system 418, a display screen 420, and input/output components422. In some embodiments, the node 400 may generate a new block oftransactions by using the blockchain manager 414. Similarly, the node400 may use the blockchain manager 414 in conjunction with the smartcontracts 416 stored in memory 404 to execute the functionalitydisclosed herein. In general, the smart contracts 416 include code thatis shared with all, or some, of the participants in the blockchainnetwork in which the node 400 participates. This code may be used toensure transparency in transactions, agreements, and other events thatare recorded on the blockchain.

In other embodiments, the smart contracts 416 operate independent of theblockchain manager 414 or other applications. In some embodiments, node400 does not have a blockchain manager 414, or smart contracts 416stored at the node. In some embodiments, the node 400 may haveadditional or less components than what is described. The components ofthe node 400 are described in more detail below.

The node 400, as part of a decentralized ledger system 112, or anotherdecentralized or centralized network, may be used to handle systems thatinteract with and manipulate data and transactions designed for theautomotive claims process, a vehicle loss history, and the lifecycle ofa Vehicle Identification Number.

Exemplary Blockchain System

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary blockchain system 500 in accordance with oneaspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 includes a blockchain 502, ablock of transactions 504, a Merkle Tree 506, and a transaction 508. TheMerkle Tree may be the same Merkle Tree referred to above thatcryptographically links transactions together. In other embodiments, theblockchain system 500 may utilize a different method of organizingtransactions in a block. In some embodiments, the blockchain system 500includes a plurality of blocks connected together to form a chain ofblocks of transactions 502.

Each block of transactions 504 may include at least one transaction 508.In other embodiments, each block of transactions 504 has a size limitthat necessarily limits the number of transactions that the block maystore. Each block of transactions 504 includes a reference to a previousblock of transactions that was added to the blockchain 502 prior to theblock of transactions 504 being added to the blockchain 502. As such,and as described above, each block of transactions 504 is linked toevery other block in the blockchain 502.

In some embodiments, the block of transactions 504 may organize thetransactions it has received into a Merkle Tree 506 to facilitate accessto the stored transactions. The transactions may be hashed using acryptographic hash algorithm, such as the algorithms discussed above,and the hash of each transaction is stored in the tree. As the tree isconstructed the hash of each adjacent node at the same level is hashedtogether to create a new node that exists at a higher level in the tree.Therefore, the root of the tree, or the node at the top of the tree, isdependent upon the hash of each transaction stored below in the tree.Each transaction 508 may include a set of data 510. The set of data 510may include identifying data for the transaction, and transaction dataidentifying the nature of the transaction and what the transactionsentails.

Reporting and Tracking the Auto Claim Process

In one embodiment, reporting and tracking events related to anautomotive claims process is conducted on a blockchain. The automotiveinsurance claims process may involve the following parties: a vehicleowner, an insurer, a repair facility, a parts supplier, a logisticsprovider, and a rental provider. Presently, the process may involve aconsiderable amount of communication, and coordination back and forthbetween all of the relevant parties listed above. As such, the processcan be time consuming, and there are difficulties ensuring the correctinformation is received by the correct party at the correct time. Byinstituting the process on a blockchain significant time and resourceimprovements can be obtained.

After a vehicle owner is in an accident, the claims process may beginwhen the insurer receives a loss report or loss notification for thevehicle. The insurer determines coverage based upon the loss report,triages the vehicle, and sends a repair assignment to a repair facility.Optionally, the insurer may assign a rental vehicle to the vehicle ownerif applicable. The rental provider provides the rental vehicleaccordingly. Throughout the process, the vehicle owner may provideauthorization to repair the vehicle, and pay for such repairs, and paysa deductible.

At some point a repair facility takes control of the vehicle. In somecases the repair facility may provide a rental car, or substitutetransportation to the vehicle owner. The repair facility may secureauthorization to repair the vehicle from the vehicle owner. Once this issecured, the repair facility identifies potential areas of priordamage/betterment, develops a repair plan, and prepares a repairestimate. The repair facility may request parts from suppliers, finalizeany parts orders, update the estimate accordingly, and generally managethe repair of the vehicle. For the present embodiments, as part of therepair process, the repair facility may provide photographic evidence ofthe damage done to the vehicle. These photographs may then be uploadedto the blockchain after they have been hashed so as to ensure that anyprivate information is protected, but also that the photographs providedare valid.

The insurer is largely responsible for determining the coverage,coordinating with the repair facility and rental provider, and forcommunicating with the vehicle owner. Additionally, in some embodiments,the insurer may be a provider of the network on which the blockchain tomanage the process is stored, or may be a participant on the network.

All of the participants in the network may be responsible for verifyinginformation that is stored on the blockchain, and providing additionalinformation to the blockchain to facilitate the auto claims process.Some of the participants may function as nodes that compile transactionsinto blocks that are then added to the network, but not all participantsneed be nodes that compile transactions into blocks.

In one exemplary embodiment, the systems and methods disclosed may beused by a participant to receive a vehicle loss report, access a blockstored on a blockchain to determine if information for the vehiclecorresponding to the vehicle loss report (or notification) is stored onthe blockchain, analyze the received vehicle identifier notification,perform any necessary changes to information stored on the blockchainrelated to the vehicle and/or the vehicle loss report, and transmit theblock where the vehicle information is stored, or a vehicle loss reportis stored, to another participant on the network. In some cases,updating and transmitting the block includes creating a new block withrelevant information that will be added to the blockchain. In someembodiments, a node, such as the node 400 depicted in FIG. 4, may be therecipient of the vehicle loss report, and the node may be a part of adistributed ledger system, such as the system 112 of FIG. 1B. In someembodiments, a graphical user interface may be used to ensure that auser, or participant, may interact with the data presented, and moreeasily track the relevant data as it progresses through its process andis stored on the blockchain. Additionally, as part of the process anyrelevant title information, or any liens that are held against thevehicle, may be a part of the process.

Exemplary Computer Implemented Method for Reporting and Tracking theAuto Claim Process

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 600 associated with one aspectof the present disclosure, in particular, using a blockchain forreporting and tracking events related to an automotive claims processamong a network of participants. In some embodiments, the network ofparticipants may be the nodes described above, for example, node 400depicted in FIG. 4. The blockchain used by the participants may be theblockchain 500 depicted in FIG. 5, whose operation is described in FIGS.2A, 2B, and 5. The steps of the computer-implemented method 600 may beperformed by the nodes in the network of participants, such as the nodesdescribed in FIGS. 1A-4. The method 600 may include additional, fewer,or alternative actions, including those described elsewhere herein.

The method 600 for reporting and tracking events related to anautomotive claims process on a blockchain reported and tracked by aplurality of participants in the blockchain network may include (1)receiving, at a processor, a notification of a vehicle loss or a vehicleloss report (or other notification of a vehicle loss, such as anotification that an insured vehicle has been damaged or involved in avehicle collision) from a first participant (block 602); (2) storing, ata memory coupled with the processor, the vehicle loss report on theblockchain (block 604); (3) generating, at the processor, a coverageamount based upon the vehicle loss report (block 606); (4) generating,at the processor, an order based upon the notification, wherein theorder includes a repair assignment and a replacement vehicle request(block 608); (5) storing, at the memory, the repair assignment on theblockchain (610); (6) transmitting, at the processor, the order to atleast a second participant (block 612); (7) receiving, at the processor,a repair estimate from the second participant (block 614); and/or (8)transmitting, at the processor, the repair estimate and the coverageamount to the first participant (block 616).

In some embodiments, the first participant is the vehicle owner, and inother embodiments the second participant is a repair facility. In otherembodiments, both the first participant is the vehicle owner and thesecond participant is a repair facility.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving, at theprocessor, a repair approval from the first participant; transmitting,at the processor, the repair approval to the second participant; and/orstoring, at the memory, the repair approval on the blockchain.Alternatively, the computer implemented method may further includetransmitting, at the processor, the order to a third participant,wherein the third participant is a rental provider; receiving, at theprocessor, a rental bill from the third participant; and storing, at thememory, the rental bill on the blockchain.

In yet other embodiments, prior to receiving the repair estimate, themethod may include receiving, at the processor, a parts deliverynotification from a fourth participant, wherein the fourth participantis a parts supplier; and/or storing, at the memory, the parts deliverynotification on the blockchain. Similarly, in some embodiments, prior toreceiving the repair approval, receiving, at the processor, a partsdelivery confirmation from a fifth participant, wherein the fifthparticipant is a logistics provider; and/or storing, at the memory, theparts delivery confirmation on the blockchain.

In some embodiments, the method may include receiving, at the processor,a final repair bill from the second participant; and/or storing, at thememory, the final repair bill on the blockchain. Additionally, in someembodiments the method may include, wherein if items are stored on theblockchain, updating, at the memory, a copy of the blockchain stored atthe memory; and/or transmitting, via the network interface, the updatedcopy of the blockchain to at least one other participant. Similarly,some embodiments include receiving, at the processor, a repair rejectionfrom the first participant; transmitting, at the processor, the repairrejection to the second participant; and/or storing, at the memory, therepair rejection on the blockchain.

In some embodiments, the vehicle loss report (or a notification of avehicle loss, or notification that an insured vehicle has been damagedor involved in a vehicle collision) may be used to access the blockchainand identify a smart contract associated with the vehicle. The vehicleloss report (or notification) may be used to update the smart contractusing information included in the vehicle loss report (or notification).

In an alternative embodiment, a computer-implemented method forreporting and tracking events related to an automotive claims process ona blockchain reported and tracked by a plurality of participants in theblockchain network may be provided. The method may include (1)receiving, at a processor, a notification of a vehicle loss report (orother notification of a vehicle loss, such as a notification that aninsured vehicle has been damaged or involved in a vehicle collision) fora vehicle from a first participant; (2) adding, at a memory coupled withthe processor, the vehicle loss report to a transaction; (3) generating,at the processor, a coverage amount and an order based upon the vehicleloss report; (4) adding, at the processor, the coverage amount and theorder to the transaction; (5) adding, at the processor, the transactionto a block of transactions; (6) generating, at the processor, acryptographic hash based upon the block of transactions; (7) adding, atthe processor, the cryptographic hash in the block of transactions;and/or (8) transmitting, at the processor, the block of transactions toa second participant.

In some embodiments, the first participant is the vehicle owner, and thesecond participant is a repair facility. In other embodiments, themethod may include receiving, at the processor, a repair approval fromthe first participant; transmitting, at the processor, the repairapproval to the second participant; and/or storing, at the memory, therepair approval on the blockchain.

In some embodiments, the method may include receiving, at the processor,a transaction from at least one other participant in the blockchainnetwork; validating, at the processor, the transaction by checking apublic-private key pair for the at least one other participant; when thetransaction is valid, storing, at the memory, the transaction to a copyof the blockchain, and transmitting, at the processor, the transactionto at least one other participant in the blockchain network; and/or whenthe transaction is not valid, not storing the transaction, and nottransmitting the transaction.

In yet another embodiment, a computer system for reporting and trackingevents related to an automotive claims process on a blockchain reportedand tracked by a plurality of participants in the blockchain network maybe provided. The system may include a network interface configured tointerface with a processor; a memory configured to store non-transitorycomputer executable instructions and configured to interface with theprocessor; and the processor configured to interface with the memory.The processor may be configured to execute the non-transitory computerexecutable instructions to cause the processor to: (1) receive anotification of a vehicle loss report (or other notification of avehicle loss, such as a notification that an insured vehicle has beendamaged or involved in a vehicle collision) from a first participant;(2) store the vehicle loss report (or other notification) on theblockchain; (3) generate a coverage amount based upon the vehicle lossreport (or other notification); (4) generate an order based upon thevehicle loss report (or other notification), wherein the order includesa repair assignment and a replacement vehicle request; (5) store therepair assignment and the replacement vehicle request on the blockchain;(6) transmit the order to a second participant; (7) receive a repairestimate from the second participant; and/or (8) transmit the repairestimate and the coverage amount to the first participant. The systemmay include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including thatdiscussed elsewhere herein.

Vehicle Loss History

In one embodiment, reporting and tracking events related to a vehicleloss history, are stored on a blockchain maintained by a plurality ofparticipants. The vehicle loss history may include information on thefollowing parties: a vehicle owner, an insurer, a repair facility, aparts supplier, a logistics provider, and a rental provider. Presently,the process involves a considerable amount of communication, andcoordination back and forth between potentially all of the relevantparties listed above. As such, the process may be time consuming, andthere may be difficulties ensuring the correct information is receivedby the correct party at the correct time. By instituting the process fortracking and reporting on a blockchain significant time and resourceimprovements can be obtained.

In one exemplary embodiment, the systems and methods disclosed may beused by a participant to receive a loss history for a vehicle, access ablock stored on a blockchain to determine if information for the vehicleis stored on the blockchain, analyze the received vehicle loss history,perform any necessary changes to information stored on the blockchainrelated to the vehicle and/or the vehicle loss history, and transmit theblock where the vehicle information is stored, or vehicle loss historyis stored, to another participant on the network. In some cases,updating and transmitting the block includes creating a new block withrelevant information that will be added to the blockchain. In someembodiments, a node, such as the node 400 depicted in FIG. 4, may be therecipient of the vehicle loss history, and the node may be a part of adistributed ledger system, such as the system 112 of FIG. 1B. In someembodiments, a graphical user interface may be used to ensure that auser, or participant, may interact with the data presented and moreeasily track as the relevant data progresses through its process and isstored on the blockchain. Additionally, as part of the process anyrelevant title information or any liens that are held against thevehicle may be part of the process.

Exemplary Computer Implemented Method for Vehicle Loss History

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 700 associated with one aspectof the present disclosure for tracking a vehicle loss history, stored ona blockchain maintained by a plurality of participants. In someembodiments, the network of participants may be the nodes describedabove, for example node 400 depicted in FIG. 4. The blockchain used bythe participants may be the blockchain 500 depicted in FIG. 5, whoseoperation is described in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 5. The steps of thecomputer-implemented method 700 may be performed by the nodes in thenetwork of participants, such as the nodes described in FIGS. 1A-4. Themethod 700 may include additional, fewer, or alternative actions,including those described elsewhere herein.

The exemplary flow diagram 700 may include (1) receiving, at a processorcoupled with a network interface, a vehicle loss notification from atleast a first participant, wherein the vehicle loss notificationincludes a vehicle identifier, a driver identifier, and a vehicle lossreport (block 702); (2) accessing, at a memory coupled with a processor,the blockchain using the vehicle identifier (block 704); (3) updating,at the memory, a block stored at the memory using the vehicleidentifier, the driver identifier, and the vehicle loss report (block706); and/or (4) transmitting, via the processor coupled with thenetwork interface, the block to at least a second participant (block708).

In some embodiments, the first participant is a sensor system attachedto the vehicle. In other embodiments, the first participant is a repairshop. Similarly, in some embodiments, accessing the blockchain using thevehicle identifier may include: searching, at the processor, theblockchain using the vehicle identifier for a block which includes thevehicle identifier; and/or verifying, at the processor, the vehicleidentifier stored at the block.

In other embodiments, if the vehicle identifier is not stored at ablock, the method may include generating, at the processor, a vehiclerecord using the vehicle identifier; adding, at the processor, thevehicle identifier, the driver identifier, and the vehicle loss reportto a vehicle loss transaction; linking, at the processor, the vehicleloss transaction and the vehicle record; adding, at the processor, thevehicle loss transaction to a set of vehicle loss transactions; and/oradding, at the processor, the set of vehicle loss transactions and thevehicle record to the block.

In some embodiments, updating the block may include: adding, at theprocessor, the vehicle identifier, the driver identifier, and thevehicle loss report to a vehicle loss transaction; adding, at theprocessor, the vehicle loss transaction to a set of vehicle losstransactions; and/or adding, at the processor, the set of vehicle losstransactions to the block.

In other embodiments, the method may include solving, at the processor,a cryptographic puzzle corresponding to the block; and/or adding, at theprocessor, the solution to the cryptographic puzzle to the block.Additionally, in some embodiments, updating, at the memory, theblockchain by adding the block to the blockchain.

In yet other embodiments of the method, the at least one otherparticipant is an insurer, a vehicle owner, a repair shop, orcombinations thereof. In some embodiments, the method may furtherinclude receiving, at the processor, a repair notification from at leasta third participant, wherein the third participant is a repair shop.

In some embodiments, the vehicle identifier may be used to access theblockchain and identify a smart contract associated with the vehicle.The vehicle identifier, and the vehicle loss history, may be used toupdate the smart contract.

VIN Lifecycle

In one embodiment, the systems and methods are directed to tracking avehicle identifier on a blockchain maintained by a plurality ofparticipants. The vehicle identifier may be a Vehicle IdentificationNumber, more commonly referred to as a VIN. The VIN may conform to aparticular standard for Vehicle Identification Numbers such as standardsformulated and promulgated by, for example, the Federal Motor VehicleSafety Standards, the International Standards Organization Standards,the Society of Automotive Engineers Standards, and/or the AustralianDesign Rules standards. These, and other, standards have particularinformation requirements that must be met for vehicles that aremanufactured, imported/exported, or sold within particularjurisdictions.

Some of the information that these standards require for disclosure inthe VIN are: a world manufacturer identifier, attributes of the vehicle(e.g., automotive platform used, the model for the vehicle, the bodystyle of the vehicle, any safety features of the vehicle, self-drivingfeatures for the vehicle, autonomous vehicle characteristics for thevehicle), a vehicle model year, vehicle identifier information toidentify that particular vehicle, any software or software versions forsystems used by the vehicle or its components, and more particularinformation about the vehicle manufacturer. VINs are used for many typesof vehicles, such as, for example, individual motor vehicles, towedvehicles, motorcycles, scooters and mopeds. The VIN must be reported toseveral agencies after the vehicle is manufactured, and throughout thelifecycle of the vehicle. For example, the VIN must be checked when avehicle is sold, or when the vehicle is destroyed. Any updates to thevehicle may impact the VIN, and accordingly new information may need tobe added to the blockchain, such as an odometer reading. By institutingthe process for tracking the VIN from manufacture to salvage, aka“cradle to the grave,” on a blockchain significant time and resourceimprovements can be obtained.

In one exemplary embodiment, the systems and methods disclosed may beused by a participant to receive a vehicle identifier notification,access a block stored on a blockchain to determine if information forthe vehicle corresponding to the vehicle identifier notification isstored on the blockchain, analyze the received vehicle identifiernotification, perform any necessary changes to information stored on theblockchain related to the vehicle and/or the vehicle identifiernotification, and transmit the block where the vehicle information isstored, or a vehicle identifier notification is stored, to anotherparticipant on the network. In some cases, updating and transmitting theblock includes creating a new block with relevant information that willbe added to the blockchain.

In some embodiments, a node, such as the node 400 depicted in FIG. 4,may be the recipient of the vehicle loss history, and the node may be apart of a distributed ledger system, such as the system 112 of FIG. 1B.In some embodiments, a graphical user interface may be used to ensurethat a user, or participant, may interact with the data presented andmore easily track as the relevant data progresses through its processand is stored on the blockchain. Additionally, as part of the processany relevant title information or any liens that are held against thevehicle may be part of the process.

Exemplary Computer-Implemented Method for VIN Lifecycle

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 800 associated with one aspectof the present disclosure for tracking a vehicle identifier on ablockchain maintained by a plurality of participants. In someembodiments, the network of participants may be the nodes describedabove, for example node 400 depicted in FIG. 4. The blockchain used bythe participants may be the blockchain 500 depicted in FIG. 5, whoseoperation is described in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 5. The steps of thecomputer-implemented method 800 may be performed by the nodes in thenetwork of participants, such as the nodes described in FIGS. 1A-4. Themethod 800 may include additional, fewer, or alternative actions,including those described elsewhere herein.

The exemplary flow diagram 800 may include (1) receiving, at a processorcoupled with a network interface, a vehicle identifier notification froma participant (block 802); (2) accessing, at a memory coupled with aprocessor, the blockchain using the vehicle identifier notification(block 804); (3) updating, at the memory, a block stored at the memoryusing the vehicle identifier notification (block 806); and/or (4)transmitting, via the processor coupled with the network interface, theblock to at least one other participant (block 808).

In some embodiments, the vehicle identifier notification includes anotification source, a vehicle identifier set, and a notification event.Further, in some embodiments of the method, the vehicle identifier setincludes a manufacturer, a descriptor section, and an identifiersection. Alternatively, the notification event is a vehicle transfer, avehicle accident, a vehicle repair incident, a vehicle modification, orcombinations thereof.

In some embodiments, accessing the blockchain using the vehicleidentifier notification may also include: verifying, at the processor, anotification source for the vehicle identifier notification;identifying, at the processor, an entry in the blockchain correspondingto the vehicle identifier notification; and/or accessing, at the memory,the entry in the blockchain corresponding to the vehicle identifiernotification.

In other embodiments, updating the blockchain using the vehicleidentifier notification may also include: verifying, at the processor,that an entry in the blockchain corresponding to the vehicle identifiernotification exists; and/or wherein if the entry does not exist, adding,at the memory, an entry in the blockchain corresponding to the vehicleidentifier notification.

An alternative embodiment of the computer-implemented method mayinclude, via one or more processors and/or transceivers, tracking avehicle identifier on a blockchain maintained by a plurality ofparticipants. The method may include: (1) receiving, at a processorcoupled with a network interface, a vehicle identifier notification froma participant; (2) accessing, at a memory coupled with a processor, theblockchain using the vehicle identifier notification; (3) updating, atthe memory, a block stored at the memory using the vehicle identifiernotification; (4) generating, at the processor, a solution to acryptographic puzzle involving the block; and/or (5) transmitting, viathe processor coupled with the network interface, the block and thesolution to the cryptographic puzzle to at least one other participant.

In some embodiments, accessing the blockchain using the vehicleidentifier notification may also include: verifying, at the processor, anotification source for the vehicle identifier notification;identifying, at the processor, an entry in the blockchain correspondingto the vehicle identifier notification; and/or accessing, at the memory,the entry in the blockchain corresponding to the vehicle identifiernotification. Furthermore, in some embodiments updating the blockchainusing the vehicle identifier notification may also include: verifying,at the processor, that an entry in the blockchain corresponding to thevehicle identifier notification exists; and wherein if the entry doesnot exist, adding, at the memory, an entry in the blockchaincorresponding to the vehicle identifier notification.

In some embodiments, the vehicle identifier may be used to access theblockchain and identify a smart contract associated with the vehicle.The vehicle identifier, and the complimentary notification, may be usedto update the smart contract.

Exemplary VIN Chain or Blockchain Vin Registry

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary VIN Chain 900. The VIN Chain may be aBlockchain VIN Registry as discussed herein. The VIN for a vehicle mayact a key, or other provides access, to the Vin Chain 900, and in someembodiments may be hashed or encrypted.

In some embodiments, each VIN Chain 900 may be a blockchain dedicated toan individual autonomous, smart, or other (conventional) vehicle. TheVIN Chain 900 may be required to include the VIN for the vehicle. TheVIN may be used to access, identify, or verify the VIN Chain 900 ordistributed ledger is associated with the vehicle. The VIN Chain 900 mayinclude one or more additional data elements associated with thevehicle, including those depicted in FIG. 9.

As shown in FIG. 9, the VIN Chain 900 or Blockchain VIN Registry mayhave a VIN number associated with a particular vehicle that acts as akey to accessing or updating the VIN Chain 900. The VIN Chain 900 mayhave several data elements, including (1) owner information, (2) titlestatus (clean, salvaged, etc.), (3) lienholder information, (4) lienpayoff amount, (5) insurance policy start and stop date, (6) insuranceclaim open and close date, (7) build data (vehicle features), (8)maintenance and repair dates and types, (9) telematics and odometerdata, and/or other data elements, including those discussed elsewhereherein.

For instance, the additional data elements may include telematics data(such as driving, braking, speed, cornering, stop/start, acceleration,etc.) associated with a particular driver or vehicle. The insurancepolicy information may include UBI or trip-based insurance details, suchas location and mileage information. The insurance policy informationmay also include premiums, discounts, coverages, deductibles, limits,and/or conditions.

As shown in FIG. 9, the owner information and title status blocks in theVIN Chain 900 may be created or updated, and subsequently accessed orread by manufacturers, dealerships, body shops, DMVs, insurers, salvagevendors, individual smart vehicles, vehicle owners, authorized 3^(rd)parties, and/or other entities. One use case for this type ofinformation in a blockchain is title tracking from “cradle to grave.”

The lienholder and lien amount information blocks in the VIN Chain 900may by created or updated by lienholders or vehicle owners, andsubsequently accessed by insurers, lienholders, and/or consumers. Usecases for this type of information in a blockchain may be the claimpayment for a total loss situation, and/or automobile refinancing.

The insurance policy start and end data, and claim open and close dateinformation blocks in the VIN Chain 900 may be created or updated byinsurers, smart vehicles, or consumers, and subsequently accessed orread by insurers, lienholders, other vehicles, and consumers. The usecases for this type of information in a blockchain may be providingevidence of insurance, detecting buildup or fraud, and/or alternativelyverifying the veracity of insurance claims.

The build data (such as vehicle features or technology) blocks in theVIN claim 900 may be created or updated by manufactures or individualsmart vehicles, and subsequently read by other vehicles, insurers,consumers, other manufacturers, repair shops, etc. Use cases for thistype of information in a blockchain may include insurance rating (e.g.,vehicles having different safety or technological systems that lower orotherwise impact risk may be rated different), and improved repair costestimates.

The maintenance and repair data blocks in the VIN claim 900 may becreated or updated, and subsequently read or accessed by body shops,repair facilities, insurers, individual smart or connected vehicles,etc. A use case for this type of information in a blockchain may includemaintaining the vehicle history.

The telematics and/or odometer data blocks in the VIN Chain 900 may becreated or updated by individual smart or connected vehicles, andsubsequently read by the vehicles, consumers, insurers, or other 3^(rd)parties. The telematics and/or odometer data may be used to update smartcontracts associated with UBI (Usage-Based Insurance), which may provideinsurance for a limited amount of miles or time. Use cases for this typeof information in a blockchain may include claim processing, updatinginsurance discounts, and/or issuing new or additional UBI smartcontracts.

Exemplary Vin Based Vehicle Services

FIG. 10 depicts exemplary VIN based vehicle services that may befacilitated via the Blockchain VIN Registry. The VIN based vehicleservices may relate to (1) State Department of Motor Vehicles (e.g.,vehicle registration, title management, title transfer, license plates,etc.); (2) Banking (e.g., lien payoff, lien placement or transfer,etc.); (3) Insurance (e.g., verification of insurance, insurancequoting, claim handling, total loss, etc.); (4) Automobile Manufacturers(e.g., VIN seeding, recall notices, technology upgrades, updatedsoftware versions, etc.); and/or (5) Salvage Vendors (e.g., titletransfer, exchange of monies, sensor or part valuation, vehicle orsensor auction, total loss, etc.).

In one embodiment, transactions associated with a total lossdetermination may be recorded on the Blockchain VIN Registry. Thetransactions may include the VIN, and data related to the followingevents or conditions: (1) a vehicle is involved in a crash with anothervehicle; (2) a blockchain may be used to determine active insurance andanother insurer; (3) determine if a lien is active, and if so, thepresent payoff amount, and identify the bank or other lender; (4) theinsurer may send the payoff amount and the bank may update the lienpayoff and remove the lien on vehicle; (5) title or e-title istransferred to an insurance company; (6) title or e-title is latertransferred to a salvage vendor; (7) the salvage vendor may sell thevehicle; and/or (8) after which, title or e-title is subsequentlytransferred to new owner, and/or the insurer receives salvage proceedsfrom vehicle being sold.

In another embodiment, transactions associated with vehicle manufactureand initial vehicle purchase/loan may be recorded on the Blockchain VINRegistry. The transactions may include the VIN, and vehicle or otherdata related to the following events or conditions: (1) a new vehicle ismanufactured, and VIN and associated information is added to theblockchain; (2) a consumer takes out a loan on the new (or another)vehicle, and a lien payoff amount is placed on the blockchain; (3) theconsumer receives title or e-title to the vehicle through the State DMV;(4) the bank places a lien on the vehicle title or e-title; and/or (5)auto insurance is purchased for the driver, vehicle, and/or autonomousvehicle.

In another embodiment, transactions associated with vehicle refinancingmay be recorded on the Blockchain VIN Registry. The transactions mayinclude the VIN, and vehicle or other data related to the followingevents or conditions: (1) a vehicle may be refinanced through anoriginal or subsequent bank, (2) the bank may query for a lien packet,(3) loan terms may be determined and updated, (4) payoff amounts may beupdated, etc.

Exemplary Virtual Claim Experience Using Blockchain

FIG. 11 depicts exemplary transactions that may be recorded, logged, orupdated in each block of a distributed ledger or Blockchain VIN Registry1100. The transactions may each include a VIN for a particular vehicle,and one or more additional data elements. The additional data elementsmay include (i) identification a stakeholder or actor; (ii) tasks to beperformed or that have been completed; (iii) an output; and/or (iv)other data, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

The stakeholder or actor data elements may indicate or identify (1)vehicle owners, (2) repair facilities, (3) insurer, (4) part suppliers,(5) logistics providers, and/or (6) rental providers. Each stakeholderor actor data element may have a corresponding task assigned, or a taskbe, or has been, completed.

The task data elements for, and/or associated with, vehicle owners mayinclude (1) providing authorization to repair vehicle; (2) authorizingpayment to a repair facility; (3) paying a deductible; and/or (4)completing any necessary forms.

The task data elements for, and/or associated with, repair facilitiesmay include (1) taking possession of vehicle; (2) arranging forrental/substitute transportation; (3) securing authorization to repair;(4) identifying potential areas of prior damage/betterment; (5)developing a repair plan; (6) preparing an estimate; (7) sending alisting of necessary parts to suppliers; (8) finalizing parts order andordering parts; (9) uploading an estimate; (10) checking delivered partsversus parts ordered; (11) repairing the vehicle; (12) providing arepair status updates to the vehicle owner; (13) managing sublet repairtasks; (14) detailing and delivering the vehicle; (15) providing thevehicle owner with a repair warranty; and/or (16) sending a final repairbill to the insurer.

The task data elements for, and/or associated with, insurers may include(1) receiving a loss report; (2) determining coverage and policyconditions; (3) vehicle triage; (4) sending an assignment to the repairfacility; (5) authorizing a rental vehicle if applicable; (6) resolvingany prior damage/betterment issues; (7) sending an estimate and partsbrochures to the vehicle owner; (8) performing a vehicle inspection ifand when required; and/or (9) paying the final repair and any rentalbills.

The task data elements for, and/or associated with, parts suppliers mayinclude (1) receiving notification of a parts request; (2) competing fora parts sale; (3) packaging parts order for delivery; and/or (4) workingwith logistics provider to load parts.

The task data elements for, and/or associated with, logistics providersmay include (1) receiving parts delivery notification; (2) aggregating aparts order; (3) verifying part quality “grade” and/or checking for partdamage; and/or (4) delivering parts to repair facility.

The task data elements for, and/or associated with, rental providers mayinclude (1) providing replacement or rental vehicles; and/or (2) sendinga final rental bill.

The output data elements that may be associated with transactions, andidentified by VIN, and added to the Blockchain VIN Registry may furtherinclude signed repair authorizations and signed directions to pay(associated with the vehicle owner); printed final repair bills andprinted customer warranties (associated with the repair facility);printed or mailed repair estimates and printed or mailed alternativeparts brochures (associated with the insurer); archived parts orders(associated with the parts supplier); archived shipping orders(associated with the logistics provider); and final rental bills(associated with the rental provider).

Proof of Insurance

FIG. 12 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 1200 associated with oneaspect of the present disclosure, in particular, verifying proof ofinsurance on a vehicle using a blockchain. In some embodiments, thenetwork of participants may be the nodes described above, for examplenode 400 depicted in FIG. 4. The blockchain used by the participants maybe the blockchain 500 depicted in FIG. 5, whose operation is describedin FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 5. The steps of the computer-implemented method1200 may be performed by the nodes in the network of participants, suchas the nodes described in FIGS. 1A-4. The method 1200 may includeadditional, fewer, or alternative actions, including those describedelsewhere herein.

Presently, most states have a law requiring motorists to carry a certainamount of insurance on their vehicle. To enforce this law, stateauthorities will often verify proof of insurance when certain eventshappen, such as when a vehicle is registered, or during a traffic stopor traffic accident. The state authorities may be the Department ofMotor Vehicles, other state agencies, local law enforcement agencies,and federal agencies. To make it possible for authorities to validateinsurance coverage, the majority of states have enacted laws that applyto the auto insurance carriers who do business in their state, requiringthe carriers to submit regular, up-to-date information about theircurrent book of business. To verify that the insurance is active,there's a complex data exchange occurring behind the scenes involvingstate authorities and insurance carriers to get data to the authoritiesattempting to validate the insurance. This data exchange adds time,resources, and money to systems attempting to validate insurance.

Alternatively, by using a blockchain based system, for example using ablockchain based VIN registry, insurers submit information on theircurrently insured VINs to the blockchain, and various state authoritiescould then query it for evidence of insurance. Such a system could allowfor better fraud detection, as a carrier could be notified if duplicatecoverage is suspected on a VIN. Similarly, insurers could report VINnumbers involved in a claim, potentially tipping off other insurers ofduplicate claim fraud situations. The information on the blockchaincould potentially eliminate the need for insurance carrier tools thatallows for a person's (or vehicle's) insurance carrier to be identified.

In addition to the VIN, other information related to the driver'sinsurance may be accessible as part of the proof of insurance processthat utilizes a blockchain. For example, the insured's name and address,the vehicle year and make, the policy renewal dates, the insurancecompany name, and the insurance policy number. These items can bethought of as information about the insured, information about thevehicle, and information about the policy. These pieces of informationmay be stored in the VIN blockchain alongside the VIN, or in conjunctionwith the insurance associated with the VIN.

The information stored on a VIN chain, or on a blockchain used to verifyproof of insurance, may be privileged information. As such, participantsin the blockchain may need sufficient permission to join the blockchainand/or to view/access information stored in the blockchain. Stateauthorities may have access to the blockchain, as well as insurers, andany potential lienholders that own liens on the vehicles associated withthe VINs. Similarly, auto manufacturers may need access to theblockchain to create locks on their vehicles that prevent the vehiclefrom starting if the vehicle does not have insurance. These participantsin the blockchain may all provide the necessary computing power tomaintain the blockchain and operate nodes that confirm informationexchanged on the blockchain.

Additionally, some embodiments may utilize smart contracts stored on theblockchain, and potentially controlled by participating entities, toexecute certain actions automatically. For example, a smart contract maybe able to provision insurance in a temporary situation, such asinsurance for a rental car. Smart contracts may also be used to triggeralerts when a VIN is involved in a claim and is underinsured, or has noinsurance. Similarly, if multiple claims are submitted for the same VIN,but from different insurers a smart contract, upon receiving informationabout the claims, could trigger automatic alerts to authorities orinsurers about the potentially fraudulent activity.

In one embodiment of the exemplary flow diagram 1200, thecomputer-implemented method depicted may include steps such as (1)receiving, at a processor coupled with a network interface, one or morerequest datasets from one or more network participants (block 1202); (2)verifying, at the processor, that the one or more network participantshave permission to access information stored on the permissionedblockchain using a requestor identifier included in the request datasetfor each network participant (block 1204); (3) when the one or morenetwork participants have permission, accessing, at a memory coupledwith the processor, the permissioned blockchain using a VehicleIdentification Number included in each request dataset (block 1206A);(4) performing, at the processor coupled with the memory, a verificationof the existence of data stored in the permissioned blockchainassociated with the Vehicle Identification Number (block 1208); (5)transmitting, via the processor coupled with the network interface, arequest notification based upon the verification to the one or morenetwork participants (block 1210); and/or (6) when the one or morenetwork participants do not have permission, transmitting, via theprocessor coupled with the network interface, a denial notification tothe one or more network participants (block 1206B).

In some embodiments, the plurality of network participants comprises alaw enforcement agency, a state regulatory agency, an insurance agency,or combinations thereof. Similarly, in some embodiments each requestdataset further comprises a request id, a request type, and a requestortype. In alternative embodiments, the requestor identifier comprises ahash value associated with a cryptographic key controlled by thecorresponding network participant.

In some embodiments, performing a verification of the existence of datastored in the permissioned blockchain associated with the VehicleIdentification Number, may include: identifying, at the processor, arequest type included in the request dataset, wherein the request typecomprises a verification request, a modification request, or a newtransaction request; when the request type is a verification request,verifying, at the processor, the existence of data associated with theVehicle Identification Number, when the data associated with the VehicleIdentification Number does not exist, transmit a nonexistencenotification associated with the vehicle identifier to at least oneother network participant; when the request type is a modificationrequest, transmitting, at the processor coupled with the networkinterface, a coverage dataset based upon the request dataset and themodification request to at least one of network participant; and/or whenthe request type is a new transaction request, generating andtransmitting, at the processor coupled with the network interface, acoverage dataset based upon the request dataset and the new transactionrequest to at least one of network participant.

In other embodiments, the modification request comprises a policyrenewal, a policy change, or a policy transfer associated with theVehicle Identification Number. In yet other embodiments, transmitting arequest notification based upon the verification to the one or morenetwork participants, may include: generating, at the processor, therequest notification using the request type and a success indicatorindicating whether a coverage dataset was sent to at one other networkparticipant.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

This detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and doesnot describe every possible embodiment, as describing every possibleembodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One may be implementnumerous alternate embodiments, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this application.

An authoritative, trusted, immutable, distributed, shareable, securesystem may be needed to record if a human driver is controlling avehicle, and/or if the vehicle is acting autonomously. The record mayinclude crash sensor data to record crash information correlating todriver control information.

Blockchain technology may be used to store the transactions of controlinstances (from autonomous to human control to autonomous, for example).These control instances may be stored as they occur into blocks.Accordingly, this data may be included into the distributed ledgerenvironment of the blockchain. In this environment, a consensus systemmay fix the events/blocks immutably and securely.

In some scenarios, the blockchain may have public interfaces that allowvisibility into the data. In one embodiment, a private blockchaininterface may also be used by auto manufacturers, law enforcement,insurers, and regulatory agencies.

An element of smart contracts may also be enabled in the system.Depending on the sequence of events in the blockchain, terms of thesmart contract may be executed immediately, such as sending a tow truckto the geolocation if tow assistance is a part of the policy, filing alegal action by a subrogation team of an insurer is brought against anauto manufacturer (for example, if an accident occurs when theautonomous vehicle was in autonomous control), conducting a policyreview, filing a police report request with the jurisdiction of theroadway, processing claims awards made (for example, a partial paymentif deductible is met, to handle car rental or minor medical expense),sending a renewal notice for the policy, and so on.

In some aspects, customers may opt-in to a rewards, loyalty, or otherprogram. The customer may allow a remote server, such as an enforcementserver, to collect sensor, telematics, vehicle, mobile device, and othertypes of data discussed herein. With customer permission or affirmativeconsent, the data collected may be analyzed to provide certain benefitsto customers. For instance, insurance cost savings may be provided tolower risk or risk averse customers. Discounts, includingcryptocurrency, may be awarded to accounts associated with the customer.The other functionality discussed herein may also be provided tocustomers in return for them allowing collection and analysis of thetypes of data discussed herein, as well as participating in thevalidation of the data discussed herein.

Further to this point, although the embodiments described herein oftenutilize credit report information as an example of sensitiveinformation, the embodiments described herein are not limited to suchexamples. Instead, the embodiments described herein may be implementedin any suitable environment in which it is desirable to identify andcontrol specific type of information. As part of implementing theautomotive claims process, vehicle loss history, and the lifecycle of aVehicle Identification Number, a financial institution may be a part ofthe process. For example, the aforementioned embodiments may beimplemented by the financial institution to identify and contain bankaccount statements, brokerage account statements, tax documents, etc. Toprovide another example, the aforementioned embodiments may beimplemented by a lender to not only identify, re-route, and quarantinecredit report information, but to apply similar techniques to preventthe dissemination of loan application documents that are preferablydelivered to a client for signature in accordance with a more securemeans (e.g., via a secure login to a web server) than via email.

With the foregoing, a user may be an insurance customer who may opt-into rewards, insurance discount, or other type of program. After theinsurance customer provides their affirmative consent, an insuranceprovider remote server may collect data from the customer's mobiledevice, smart home controller, smart vehicle, autonomous vehicle, orother smart devices—such as with the customer's permission oraffirmative consent. The data collected may be related to smart homefunctionality (or home occupant preferences or preference profiles),smart vehicle functionality, and/or insured assets before (and/or after)an insurance-related event, including those events discussed elsewhereherein. In return, risk averse insureds, home or vehicle owners, or homeor apartment occupants may receive discounts or insurance cost savingsrelated to home, renters, personal articles, auto, and other types ofinsurance from the insurance provider.

In one aspect, smart or interconnected home data, and/or other data,including the types of data discussed elsewhere herein, may be collectedor received by an insurance provider remote server, such as via director indirect wireless communication or data transmission from a smarthome controller, mobile device, autonomous or smart vehicle, or othercustomer computing device, after a customer affirmatively consents orotherwise opts-in to an insurance discount, reward, or other program.The insurance provider may then analyze the data received with thecustomer's permission to provide benefits to the customer. As a result,risk averse customers may receive insurance discounts or other insurancecost savings based upon data that reflects low risk behavior and/ortechnology that mitigates or prevents risk to (i) insured assets, suchas homes, personal belongings, or vehicles, and/or (ii) home, apartment,or vehicle occupants.

Furthermore, although the present disclosure sets forth a detaileddescription of numerous different embodiments, it should be understoodthat the legal scope of the description is defined by the words of theclaims set forth at the end of this patent and equivalents. The detaileddescription is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describeevery possible embodiment since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical. Numerous alternative embodiments may beimplemented, using either current technology or technology developedafter the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within thescope of the claims. Although the following text sets forth a detaileddescription of numerous different embodiments, it should be understoodthat the legal scope of the description is defined by the words of theclaims set forth at the end of this patent and equivalents. The detaileddescription is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describeevery possible embodiment since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical. Numerous alternative embodiments may beimplemented, using either current technology or technology developedafter the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within thescope of the claims.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (e.g., code embodiedon a machine-readable medium or in a transmission signal) or hardware.In hardware, the routines, etc., are tangible units capable ofperforming certain operations and may be configured or arranged in acertain manner. In exemplary embodiments, one or more computer systems(e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or morehardware modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group ofprocessors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules may provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and may operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “includes,” “comprising,” “including,” “has,”“having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, orapparatus that includes a list of elements is not necessarily limited toonly those elements but may include other elements not expressly listedor inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further,unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive orand not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfiedby any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (ornot present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present),and both A and B are true (or present).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it isobvious that it is meant otherwise.

The patent claims at the end of this patent application are not intendedto be construed under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless traditionalmeans-plus-function language is expressly recited, such as “means for”or “step for” language being explicitly recited in the claim(s).

1. A computer-implemented method for reporting and tracking eventsrelated to an automotive claims process on a blockchain reported andtracked by a plurality of participants in the blockchain network, themethod comprising: receiving, at a processor from a first participant, atransaction including a vehicle loss report, wherein the firstparticipant is a sensor system of a vehicle associated with the vehicleloss report having a cryptographic key pair associated therewith,wherein the vehicle loss report includes an indication of odometer data;verifying, at the processor, a cryptographic key of the cryptographickey pair applied to the transaction by the sensor system of the vehicle;storing, at a memory coupled with the processor, the vehicle loss reporton the blockchain; accessing the memory coupled with the processor tocompare the odometer data with a usage-based insurance policy associatedwith the vehicle; determining, at the processor, that the odometer datais within a mileage limit associated with the usage-based insurancepolicy; based upon the determination, generating, at the processor, acoverage amount based upon the vehicle loss report; generating, at theprocessor, an order based upon the notification, wherein the orderincludes a repair assignment and a replacement vehicle request; storing,at the memory, the repair assignment on the blockchain; transmitting, atthe processor, the order to at least a second participant; receiving, atthe processor, a repair estimate from the second participant; andtransmitting, at the processor, the repair estimate and the coverageamount to the first participant.
 2. (canceled)
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second participantis a repair facility.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1further comprising: receiving, at the processor, a repair approval froma third participant, wherein the third participant is the vehicle owner;transmitting, at the processor, the repair approval to the secondparticipant; and storing, at the memory, the repair approval on theblockchain.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting, at the processor, the order to a fourthparticipant, wherein the fourth participant is a rental provider;receiving, at the processor, a rental bill from the fourth participant;and storing, at the memory, the rental bill on the blockchain.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: whereinprior to receiving the repair estimate, receiving, at the processor, aparts delivery notification from a fifth participant, wherein the fifthparticipant is a parts supplier; and storing, at the memory, the partsdelivery notification on the blockchain.
 7. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising: wherein prior to receiving therepair approval, receiving, at the processor, a parts deliveryconfirmation from a sixth participant, wherein the sixth participant isa logistics provider; and storing, at the memory, the parts deliveryconfirmation on the blockchain.
 8. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the processor, a final repairbill from the second participant; and storing, at the memory, the finalrepair bill on the blockchain.
 9. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further includes: wherein if items are stored on theblockchain, updating, at the memory, a copy of the blockchain stored atthe memory; and transmitting, via the network interface, the updatedcopy of the blockchain to at least one other participant.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 receiving, at the processor, arepair rejection from a third participant, wherein the third participantis the vehicle owner; transmitting, at the processor, the repairrejection to the second participant; and storing, at the memory, therepair rejection on the blockchain.
 11. A computer-implemented methodfor reporting and tracking events related to an automotive claimsprocess on a blockchain reported and tracked by a plurality ofparticipants in the blockchain network, the method comprising:receiving, at a processor and from a first participant, a transactionincluding a vehicle loss report for a vehicle, wherein the firstparticipant is a sensor system of a vehicle associated with the vehicleloss report having a cryptographic key pair associated therewith whereinthe vehicle loss report includes an indication of odometer data;verifying, at the processor, a cryptographic key of the cryptographickey pair applied to the transaction by the sensor system of the vehicleaccessing a blockchain record corresponding to the vehicle to comparethe odometer data with a usage-based insurance policy associated withthe vehicle; determining, at the processor, that the odometer data iswithin a mileage limit associated with the usage-based insurance policy;based upon the determination, generating, at the processor, a coverageamount and an order based upon the vehicle loss report; adding, at theprocessor, the coverage amount and the order to the transaction; adding,at the processor, the transaction to a block of transactions;generating, at the processor, a cryptographic hash based upon the blockof transactions; adding, at the processor, the cryptographic hash in theblock of transactions; and transmitting, at the processor, the block oftransactions to a second participant.
 12. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 11, wherein the second participant is a repair facility.13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 further comprising:receiving, at the processor, a repair approval from a third participant,wherein the third participant is the vehicle owner; transmitting, at theprocessor, the repair approval to the second participant; and storing,at the blockchain record, the repair approval on the blockchain.
 14. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving,at the processor, a second transaction from at least one otherparticipant in the blockchain network; validating, at the processor, thesecond transaction by checking a public-private key pair for the atleast one other participant; when the second transaction is valid,storing, at the blockchain record, the second transaction to a copy ofthe blockchain, and transmitting, at the processor, the secondtransaction to at least one other participant in the blockchain network;and when the second transaction is not valid, not storing thetransaction, and not transmitting the second transaction.
 15. A systemfor reporting and tracking events related to an automotive claimsprocess on a blockchain reported and tracked by a plurality ofparticipants in the blockchain network, the system comprising: a networkinterface configured to interface with a processor; a memory configuredto store non-transitory computer executable instructions and configuredto interface with the processor; and the processor configured tointerface with the memory, wherein the processor is configured toexecute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause theprocessor to: receive, from a first participant, a transaction includinga vehicle loss report, wherein the first participant is a sensor systemof a vehicle associated with the vehicle loss report having acryptographic key pair associated therewith, wherein the vehicle lossreport includes an indication of odometer data; verify a cryptographickey of the cryptographic key pair applied to the transaction by thesensor system of the vehicle; store the vehicle loss report on theblockchain; generate a coverage amount based upon the vehicle lossreport; access a blockchain record corresponding to the vehicle tocompare the odometer data with a usage-based insurance policy associatedwith the vehicle; determine that the odometer data is within a mileagelimit associated with the usage-based insurance policy; based upon thedetermination, generate an order based upon the vehicle loss report,wherein the order includes a repair assignment and a replacement vehiclerequest; store the repair assignment and the replacement vehicle requeston the blockchain; transmit the order to a second participant; receive arepair estimate from the second participant; and transmit the repairestimate and the coverage amount to the first participant.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the second participant is a repair facility.17. The system of claim 15, further comprising: receive a repairapproval from a third participant, wherein the third participant is thevehicle owner; transmit the repair approval to the second participant;and store the repair approval on the blockchain.
 18. The system of claim15, further comprising: transmit the order to a fourth participant,wherein the fourth participant is a rental provider; receive a rentalbill from the fourth participant; and store the rental bill on theblockchain.
 19. The system of claim 15, further comprising: receive arepair rejection from a third participant, wherein the third participantis the vehicle owner; transmit the repair rejection to the secondparticipant; and store the repair rejection on the blockchain.
 20. Thesystem of claim 15, further comprising: receive a block of transactions;validate the block of transactions; and store the block of transactionson the blockchain.